


And That Changed Everything.

by GlutenFreeWaffles



Category: Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: In between the events of Iron Man 2 and Avengers, Mild Angst, One Shot, Phone Calls & Telephones, SHIELD, Tony Stark cries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-21
Updated: 2013-01-21
Packaged: 2017-11-26 09:31:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/649138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlutenFreeWaffles/pseuds/GlutenFreeWaffles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Documents the inner thoughts and feelings of Tony Stark during the S.H.I.E.L.D phone call that changed his life. </p><p>"He heard the words, but it took a moment to listen as they shoved their way into his eardrum and pierced into his brain, each syllable drilling into his mind one at a time. Little fragments of meaning suddenly coming together in a painful relation that numbed not only his thoughts but his entire body."</p>
            </blockquote>





	And That Changed Everything.

“Master Stark, there’s an incoming call on the main line.”

That should’ve been his first clue.

When your every day, brush off the shoulder and turn the other cheek phone call comes, it’s on a Starkphone. Or a video call. Or the video calling feature on your Starkphone. The main line was rarely used because... well, Tony had to be in his house, number one. And number two, he couldn’t be preoccupied.

The combination was rare enough as it was.

This message came at an opportune time. He wasn’t blasting music at deafening decibels or zoned in on a project. He had just finished working out with his new and highly impressive sparring animatronic, and had been making his way up to the kitchen for a well deserved protein shake.

“Put it on speaker,” he ordered JARVIS as he pried the fridge open in a quest to quench his thirst.

“Mr. Stark?” A familiar voice chimed in from speakers decoratively lined along the ceiling mold. “This is Agent Coulson, from S.H.I.E.L.D-”

Tony let the words go through one ear and out the other in disinterest. He had a detailed and organized list of his top priorities, and S.H.I.E.L.D wasn’t one of them. In fact, he practically did all he could to avoid the division when possible.

“We’ve just discovered something... rather earth shattering. We figured you deserved to be one the first to know. It’s confidential, so, I’d suggest switching to an earpiece or phone.”

“Coulson, you ever consider going on vacation?” Tony grabbed his mobile phone from the pocket in his sweatpants and transferred the discussion onto it. He heard Coulson’s reply as he pressed the cool screen to his ear.

“This is _serious_ Stark-”

“I’ll pay for it, if money’s the issue.” He found the blender and added a mixture of ice and a packet gross powder that was supposed to be good for you.

“Mr. Stark we...”

“Found something, yeah I heard you.” He grabbed a glass and waited by the kitchen’s island, resting and arm there and putting his weight on it, delaying pressing the ‘blend’ button. “Come on, lay it on me. I don’t have all day, what with trying to keep Fury’s business out of my life and all-”

“Earlier this morning, it was reported to us-”

  
…

The words didn’t sound real at first.

The couldn’t be real it was-  
They were impossible to be real.

He heard the words, but it took a moment to listen as they shoved their way into his eardrum and pierced into his brain, each syllable drilling into his mind one at a time. Little fragments of meaning suddenly coming together in a painful relation that numbed not only his thoughts but his entire body.

He dropped the phone suddenly.

He didn’t know why he did it.

But suddenly he heard the clattering of plastic and wires and this new information against the hardwood floors.

His mouth dried.

Shriveled.

No longer out of thirst, but rather out of shock.

His stomach churned and this...

This new _awful_ this...

It pinched at every nerve in his body, twisted it, and unlocked all his deepest fears and regrets. Resentment and jealousy strung out in bittersweet tunes from every pore and suddenly his body was ignited.

Ignited and yet still so numb.

He felt his knees go weak and he found himself on the floor. Somehow on the floor and somehow crying.

And his stomach was still in that somehow knot and every inch of his skin somehow ached and curdled and shuttered.

Every bad word he’d ever heard danced as strings in his father’s voice through his mind.

He could hear himself breathe and it scared him. He could feel his anger, bottled up for over forty years, swelling inside him. Anger directed at nobody. A huge hurricane, no... a snake, was being hatched out of bitter begrudging, and was growing inside him, with acid dripping down its fangs and no where to bite.

And despite how hot and frustrated and vile and numb he felt on his own fucking kitchen floor, he was completely alone. And his tears felt tepid as they percolated down his cheeks and it wasn’t until then that he realized he was sobbing.

Sobbing not from pain, or joy, or fear, but rather raw emotion. So much emotion suddenly inflamed within him that it left him as nothing but sad man weeping alone on the floor, ignoring the blood that trickled down his arm due to the broken shards of glass surrounding him. The constant ringing of the phone sounding more and more foreign as the resinated and echoed through his spacious, empty house.

* * *

  
“Coulson!” Fury boomed with arms crossed in authoritative like structure. “Who are you trying to contact on line three?”

“Tony Stark, sir,” Coulson answered. “I had him a minute ago, but... the line dropped after I told him.”

Fury stepped by Coulson’s side and watched as the agent repeatedly tried hanging up and redialing. “What did you say?”

“I just told him, like you ordered, sir.”

“Tell me exactly, what words you used.”

Coulson’s fingers froze, easing off the screened keyboard as he turned towards Fury, eyes concentrated.

* * *

  
_“Mr. Stark, it seems as though most of your father’s time and money were not wasted on an impossible goal..._

_This morning, we found Captain Steve Rogers’ body frozen in the arctic. He’s in a coma._

_He’s alive.”_ ****

****  



End file.
